Pivoted hand crimping tool with divergence limiting means



Dec. 20, 1955 w. LABUZA 2,72

PIVOTED' HAND CRIMPING TOOL WITH DIVERGENCE LIMITING MEANS Filed Oct. 24, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Wm La/41% IN V EN TOR.

Dec. 20, 1955 w. LABUZA 2,727,416

PIVOTED HAND CRIMPING TOOL WITH DIVERGENCE LIMITING MEANS Filed 001;. 24, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mam/L W IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent Excel PIVOTED HAND CRHl/IPiNG TOOL WITH DIVERGENCE LIMITING MEANS Walter Labuza, Perth Amboy, N. 1., assignor to Buchanan Electrical Products Corporation, Hillside, N. 3., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 24, 1952, Serial No. 316,570

2 Claims. (CI. 81-15) This invention relates generally to electrical equipment and more particularly to an improved hand operated tool for mechanically and electrically uniting an electric connector and an electrical conductor.

Electric connectors having asocket portion for the reception of the hated ends of an electrical conductor are well'known throughout the electrical industry. One manner of afiixing connectors of this general description to the conductors involves swaging or crimping the connector into close intimate contact with the conductor. Various hand operated tools for performing this function, wherein the metallic elements are cold worked, have been introduced into the electrical field.

'It is an object of this invention to provide an improved hand crimping tool that can readily lend itself to mass production uses. A very important use of a hand tool of'the type described involves its operation under condidens where it is necessary for an operator to mechanically and electrically unite hundreds and even thousands of these connectors with their associated conductors per day. It is accordingly a further object of this invention to provide an improved crimping tool that will reduce operator fatigue to a minimum.

An additional feature of this invention includes the proyision of an improved crimping tool that will insure eificient operation and will be economical tornanufacture.

Other advantages and objects of this invention will be apparent from a consideration of the ensuing specificalion and drawings in which:

Eig. l is a side elevation of a swaging y nv ntio Fig. 2 is a partial side eleyation of one of the operatm andles f rmin P of th ool;

" fig. 3 is a partial side elevation of the han e;

Fla 4 i a si l tion, pa y bro en away for lari y, o th o min p a e a d components;

' Fig. 5 is a section of one handle member taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2; eis a d e a sn .Q a bearin 12in;

Figs. 7 and 8 are bottom plan and side views respectively of the latch member;

"Figs. 9 and 10 are top plan and side views respectively of the lever member; and

Figs. l1, l2 and 13 are side views, partly broken away, illustrating the various operating positions of the latch and lever mechanism.

This invention relates to an improved crimping tool of the type described in United States Letters Patent ss e p l 1 .4 to ritz Qeuse l and assigned to the Buchanan Electrical B ro ducts Corporation. Tools of this general classification include two handle members it; and 12. The first handle 10 channelshaped in section and has an enlarged extremity 14 having aligned apertures 16 approximately in' the center of the enlarged portion and aligned'openings it} spaced radially from aperture 16. Handle IZ'has at one extremity thereof an enlarged portion 2tlsimila r to of handle 10 The member 12'is preferably composed of tool embodying Other operating 2,727,416 Patented Pea-13 3.95.5

2 a n r the li and has a openi 2.2..defined b a series of e c nnecte am su faces. 241 Also fs'nosqsl t a it he e io su ace o the. enlar ed .Q t is a stepped abutment member 26,

A y in ri a retainer. member or supportin an av d: ing a plurality of forming pins is indicated at 2 8 The retainer has an axial bore 3 0 and a plurality of s ngllelr bores 32 p a lel o bo e 3.9 spa ed eq i at thsiftli Circular forming pin passageways 351 extend radially from here 3.9, midway between the top bottom surf f t e retainer nd n lude an e a e por io 3. and a n ic po n A shQuld 4,0 orme a the juncture of the enlarged portion and the constri ed portion. Provided in each passageway 34 is a f0 mg P n 4 p d a h ad p ti n 44in: t rmed ate $1. at? p r d a orm n t em t 43- Alt? mated. n t l e e t 6 o the somew 'i'sj as r is me r 5% one d 9 whi bea s a a n t S mildi .1 9 and the other end against shoulder 52 formed, by the un tur of members d e sof t we t pat: normally outward from the bore 3i). f i l i in assembling the tool, retainer member 23 is placed in opening 22 so that the head portions of the form pinsare in engagement with cani surfaces 24. Enlarged end 24 of handle member 12 is then insert ed between the parallel sections 14 so that openings and 3 2 are in'alignrnent. Conventional fastening unit s su eh as bolts are then inserted through the aligned openings and 'ii' attached to the tool by nuts or the like. It may new readily appreciated that relative movement between the unattached extremities of the handle members will? cause cam surfaces 24 to engage the head portions of the rain;

ing pins 42 forcing the'pins downwardly across opening 30 against the action of spring member 59,

Therefore when it is desired to'unite a connector with the bared ends of an electric cpndu'ctorpthe bonn cter is inserted through openin'g 16 until it is supported hy ia conventional stop elementfnot shown), the ends of the conductor are then placed in the conductor receiving poi tion'of the connector and the forming pins causedt'o con: verge into engagement with the connector in response to relative convergent movement of theh andles.

Swaging tools of this general description'are used to unite connectors of various sizes with'their'associated conductors. For example it is'necessary for the retina unite a No. 16 connector with a condHctOr'aS We'Ilas'a No. 8 connector with its associated conductor. "Ihas much' as the diameter of the conductor receiving socket of a No. 16 connector is much less than a diameter of the conductor accommodating socket of a No. 8 connectorit would be convenient to provide means for restricting the divergent movement of the handles 14) and 12 which in turn would restrict the amount of the divergent moveriient of the pins 4-2 when the tool is being used to unite a quantity of No. 16 connectors with their associated conductors. This in turn would limit the amount of convergent movement of the handles necessary to join the elements. This feature becomes important when the tool is utilized on a production line where hundreds of connections must be made in a relatively short time. An operator working on such a line is called upon to grasp and squee ze the handles together as each connection is made. Limiting the extent of the normal divergent movement of the ham dles under the influence of spring 50 in turn limits the amount of convergent movement "necessary to effect the next succeeding connection which in turn increases the eficiency of the operator. An additional advantage-in restricting the divergent movement of the pins, when size connectors and conductors are joiiidfis the elimination of the tendency of the smaller-size ebine'eeft completely through bore" 30,'wliich' of 'iiecessity diameter large enough to accommodate larger size cannectors. This is true because portions of the pins project partially across the opening defined by bore 30 and thereby impede the passage of the connector. In fact the small- .cr connectors tend to locate themselves centrally of the connected to section 66 is a second circular portion 68,.

slightly larger in diameter than end portion 62 and extending from one extremity of portion 68, and integrally connected therewith, is a portion 70 also square in cross section. A latch member 72, shown in Figs. 7 and 8 has two parallel sides 74 and 76, each containing aligned openings 78 having a square configuration. The sides 74 and 76 are joined by a flat portion 80. At one end of the side members 74 and 76 there is provided a portion of reduced length 82. This portion is defined by a shoulder 84, so that the latch has at one end thereof a stepped configuration. Provided in handle member 10 are two oppositely disposed apertures 86 and 88, the former having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of pin end portion 62 and the latter having a diameter approximately equal to hearing pin portion 68.

' In assembling the bearing pin and latch elements with the tool, the latch is first placed in the U-shaped handle member 10 with openings 78 in alignment with apertures 86 and 88 and the stepped extremity directed toward the head or operating end of the tool so as to engage abutmerit- 26 on handle 12. Bearing pin 60 is then inserted through aperture 88, aligned openings 78 in the latch member 72 and aperture 86 in that order until the end portion of section 66 of the pin frictionally engages that portion of handle 10 defining aperture 88. The bearing pin is designed so that the end portion 62 now protrudes slightly beyond the outside surface of handle 10. Any tendency for the bearing pin to move axially in reverse of the direction of insertion may be prohibited by forcibly inserting a sharp ended tool (not shown) in conical recess 64 so as to radially expand the end portion 62.

Extending from the opposite outside surface of the handle is section 70 of the pin. A lever 90, having a square opening 92 in conformance with section 70 is keyed onto the pin at this extremity. One end of the lever 90 has an upset portion 94 formed by pinching the end part of 'the lever upwardly out of the plane of the lever. This upset portion serves as a handle for an operator to grasp with his fingers in order to move the lever. A protuberance 96 formed by indenting the upper surface of the lever cooperates with three spaced recesses 98 on the surface of the handle to maintain the lever in a predetermined position.

When the lever 90 is positioned as shown in Fig. 11, the latch 72 is positioned so that its unattached end will engage the foot of abutment 26 after a minimum amount of divergence of the handles 10 and 12. Further divergence is prevented.

If the lever, 90 is positioned as shown in Fig. 12, the

latch 72 will be positioned so that its shoulder 84 will engage the outer edge of the abutment 26 after a greater amount of divergence of the handles 10 and 12, thus preventing further divergence. When the lever 90 is positioned as shown in Fig. 13, the latch 72' is positioned so that it will not engage the abutment 26. Thus, the latch 72 will not limit the divergenceof the handles 10 and 12.

Thus there is provided a means for adjusting within certain predetermined limits the relative divergent movement of the forming pins in a swaging tool of the type de- It is not my intention to limit the use of my invention to hand operated swaging tools. Various applications of the principles herein stated will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. l

I claim: y

l. A tool for crimping an electrical connector to a conductor, comprising a first handle having a channel shaped enlargement, a second handle having an enlarged portion nesting Within and pivotally connected with said channel shaped enlargement, a plurality of forming pins, means supporting and guiding said pins, means for moving said pins in convergent and divergent directions in response to a corresponding movement of the handles, an abutment on said second handle within said channel shaped enlargement of said first handle, adjustable means for limiting divergent movement of said handles, said adjustable means including an abutment engaging latch, a pin pivotally connecting said latch to said first handle at a point separated from the pivotal connection of said first and second handles and within the channel shaped enlargement of said first handle, means including three spaced recesses on the outer surface of said first handle positively defining first, second and third definite positions of said latch and a lever keyed to said pin on the outer surface of said first handle whereby said latch is movable, said lever having a portion adapted to selectively engage said recesses positively to hold said latch selectively in one of said positions, said latch and said abutment being adapted for engagement when said latch is in said first and second positions, so that a greater amount of divergence of said handles is permitted when said latch is in said second position than when in said first position, and when said latch is in said third position said adjustable means permits a maximum amount of divergence of said handles.

2. A tool for crimping an electrical connector to a conductor, comprising a first handle having a channel shaped enlargement, a second handle having an enlarged portion nesting within and pivotally connected with said channel shaped enlargement, a plurality of forming pins, means supporting and guiding said pins, means for moving said pins in convergent and divergent directions in response to a corresponding movement of the handles, an abutment on said second handle within said channel shaped enlargement of said first handle, adjustable means for limiting divergent movement of said handles, said adjustable means including an abutment engaging latch, a pin pivotally connecting said latch to said first handle at a point separated from the pivotal connection of said first and second handles and within the channel shaped enlargement of said first handle, means including two spaced recesses on the outer surface of said first handle positively defining first and second definite positions,

of said latch and a lever keyed to said pin on the outer surface of said first handle whereby said latch is movable, said lever having a portion adapted to selectively engage said recesses positively to hold said latch selectively in one of said positions, said latch and said abutment being adapted for engagement when said latch is in said first position to permit a predetermined amount v of divergence of said handles and so that when said;

latch is in said second position said adjustable mean permits a maximum amount of divergence of said han dles. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS McNeal May 15, 1888 

